


Once a Gift from God

by onionrings_andhoneymustard



Category: White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28719456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onionrings_andhoneymustard/pseuds/onionrings_andhoneymustard
Summary: He hasn't always been Keller. There was a time when he was Matthew. A time when he could draw Neal into bed with expensive promises and cheap champagne.Set pre-series. Obviously non-canon.
Relationships: Neal Caffrey/Matthew Keller
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	Once a Gift from God

He hasn't always been _Keller_. There was a time when he was _Matthew_ ; a time when Neal said his name with reverence, as though Neal truly believed he was a gift from God.

 _Matthew_. Whispered against his neck; moaned into the sheets; kissed along his hips.

A time when he could draw Neal into bed with expensive promises and cheap champagne. When they'd sit shoulder-to-shoulder in the morning, sharing a cigarette and the newspaper. When they were so wrapped up in each other - when Neal was so wrapped up in _him_ \- that not much else mattered. 

They'd made a good team. Neal was skilled and beautiful and precise. Matthew was smart and clever and ruthless. Together, they were virtually unstoppable; that's what they'd believed and it seemed true, most days. When they did encounter an obstacle that threatened to stop them, they knew just how to change course without having to consult the other. It was never a question if they were on the same page - they always were.

Until, of course, they weren't.

If he traces it back, it all began to crumble when Neal watched him put a bullet in the chest of the third man in their three-man job. Neal never did like guns; he never liked the way Matthew could so dispassionately end a life. But, as long as Neal didn't see it happen, well… they could both pretend it didn't.

They couldn't pretend after that. Neal had tried to stop the bleeding with his own hands; Neal had watched the man's eyes as his life was extinguished like an annoying, flickering flame; Neal had looked _betrayed_ when he found the passport in the back pocket, as though Matthew had known it was there all along.

They should've walked away from each other then. If they had, their memories of each other might still hold just as much sweetness as they do bitter. If they had, things might be different now.

But, they didn't walk away. They both stayed and tried to repair the damage done - tried to repair it, and move on. For two people normally so sensible, that really was a foolish choice.

It all fell apart for good on a snowy Tuesday in Chicago. As far as their fights went, this one wasn't particularly explosive or noteworthy. It fizzled out before it had even really begun - they both knew what that meant.

Matthew had stood in the hotel doorway holding his suitcase and said, "Goodbye, Neal Caffrey."

After a long silence, Neal had met his eyes. For the first time, he dropped the _Matthew_. "Goodbye, Keller."

**Author's Note:**

> The name Matthew means _Gift from/of God_.


End file.
